Street Fighter IV

In my job, I play games constantly. It’s nonstop, caffeine-fueled death march starting from January and ending right about now. Most of my free time, to the detriment of my social life and relationships, is spent in front of a TV, controller in hand, playing the 15th shooter of the year or hustling through another role-playing game. Although it may not sound like it, game reviewing is a pretty tough job if you have other responsibilities.

Over the past year, I’ve played and beaten more than 52 games. I’ve played hundreds more on consoles, hand-helds and on the Internet. Culling down what I played to a list of 10 is always a difficult task, but I’ve kept a running list of my favorite games this year, and after going through it, Street Fighter IV always came up on top.

In a year where there weren’t any particularly innovative games, my decision focused on which game had the most polish and impact, and when it came down to those two categories, Street Fighter IV was No. 1. It was on par with Uncharted 2 in terms of polish. The game was executed perfectly. I really didn’t find any flaws with the fighting system or online play. Examining the two’s impact, it’s hard not to notice how Capcom resurrected a franchise and interest in the genre in general.

I’ve been in the middle of huge crowds at major tournaments and people cheering on Justin Wong’s Rufus against Daigo Umehara’s Ryu. The enthusiasm for the game was insane, and it carried over to the summer where the Evo Championship Series had its biggest turnout in years. I sat in rapt attention watching Ustream matches on the Internet. I imagine that five years from now gamers will still be playing Yoshinori Ono’s masterpiece. Unfortunately, I can’t say that about Uncharted 2 but Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 may still draw players.

In the end, each game on my list had a particular strength. DJ Hero was one of the most fresh experiences. Assassin’s Creed 2 was by far the best adventure. If artistry was all I cared for, Little King’s Story would be at the top. But it came down to a personal choice. Because of this, I have to go with Street Fighter IV. It’s the game I had the most fun with, and after all is said and done, it’s the one I’m still playing today.

Just finished watching the most epic Street Fighter IV contest that I’ve seen in a while. It was a rematch of the round robin exhibition back in April. It was New York’s Justin Wong against the legendary champ from Japan Daigo Umehara.

After three days worth of matches, it came down to these two, and the championship contest didn’t disappoint. To start it off, Wong picked Abel after having his Rufus beaten handily in their past matchup.

Playing what the announcers called a fairly basic Balrog, he seemed to catch Umehara off-guard. Wong posted a 3-2 win to reset the match. Wong was in the loser’s bracket and Umehara was in the winner’s bracket in this double elimination tournament.

Documentaries are only worth watching if you’re slightly interested in the subject. I have an undying love for The King of Kong and a burning hatred forMan on Wire. (That movie is so overrated.)

So when I heard that Ufrag.tv was streaming “I Got Next,” I had to watch it. The documentary tracks the competitive Street Fighter scene and examines the rivalry between East Coast and West Coast players.

The movie features famous players like Justin Wong, Ryan Gutierrez and Mike Ross. It’s great to see the actual people behind the joysticks, and see the personalities and culture.

My favorite quote from the film has to come from Mike Ross. He’s talking about why Street Fighter should be on TV instead of the Spelling Bee. “I always want get rid of the spelling bee already. I don’t care about kids memorizing words from the dictionary. There’s nothing crazy about that. There’s no free sets in the dictionary. There’s no cross-ups in spelling.”

If you’re a Pokemon maniac or a Street Fighter fan, there’ll be plenty to do this weekend. The Bay Area will be the site of two tournaments.

The Pokemon Regional Championships are being held May 16 at City Beach, 4020 Technology Place, in Fremont. Players will head down to the area to compete for a spot in the Pokemon Video Game National Championships in St. Louis. The tournament is divided into two groups: a senior division (Those born in 1996 or earlier.) and junior division (Those born in 1997 or later.).

Whoever comes out on top wins a guaranteed slot and travel accommodations to the national tournament. For those who just want to check out the competition, they’ll also see costumed Pikachu, Chimchar and Turtwig characters. If you want to compete, senior division competitors must check in before 9 a.m. while junior division youths get a noon time check-in. Good luck out there.

The other event is more local. The downtown San Mateo PlayNTrade is holding a “Fight Night” fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The entry for the tournament is $10 if you enter early. If you go the day of the event, it’ll cost you $15.

Most of the matches will be best two out of three, and there will be some restrictions. There are too many to list off, but Street Fighter IV folks should know that Seth and Gouken are not allowed though controller or fight sticks are OK. Here’s a summary of the fundraiser:

When: May 17th 11 a.m.
Where: PlayNTrade San Mateo (Downtown San Mateo)
206 S. B Street San Mateo, CA 94401 650-343-1155
Cost: Early Entry fee is $10/person to play one or all games!! Day of is $15.00.

Street Fighter IV’sChampionship Mode is up and I have to say that it is the real online versus mode. It creates a new tier when it comes to deciding how you want to play. The Player matches seem more for sparring know. Ranked matches are where you cut your teeth. And lastly, Championship Mode is where you go to really test your skills. It seems as if the skill level significantly jumps when you start fighting in these asynchronous tournaments. You aren’t fighting anonymous scrubs.

You can actually see how a player ranks before you fight them. I like how the character selection is now secret, so you don’t have those annoying players who try to counter whomever you pick.

The only complaint I have about the new mode is that it kicks you off to the main menu after a match. It’s kind of annoying especially when you just want to go back in and enter the second round of a tournament. I’ve mistakenly went into Rank Mode, thinking I was playing folks in Championship.

Justin Wong. Justin Wong, one of the best Street Fighter players in America, beat out Mike Ross in the national finals. The match was Wong’s Rufus against Ross’ E. Honda.

Wong won it pretty handily despite getting pummeled by an Oicho Throw or two. It was a good match, but the best was yet to come when Wong faced the Korean National Champ Poongko, Japanese National Champ Iyo and the living legend Daigo Umehara.

Iyo and Umehara had a particularly memorable match. Iyo’s Dhalism was amazing against Umehara’s Ryu. The match went the distance with a couple of close calls in the middle. It was some amazing stuff.

After you’re done watching the Street Fighter Finals on Saturday, you can continue to keep your Street Fighter IV disc in your system. My discs have been living in my Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 for so long that the game’s been paying me rent for the past two months.

Anyway, Capcom is releasing a FREE Championship Mode on April 24. What’s in a Championship Mode? you ask. Well, according to Seth Killian’s Capcom blog, it’s a tournament mode broken up into five different levels. You get Grade Points when you win one and if you win enough, you get Championship Points.

From the way Seth describes it, Grade Points sound like the new Battle Points. The higher the Grade Points the better the tournament you can enter and the more Championship Points you can risk and win. Think of it as Balrog’s fight money.

Finally, you get a double blind selection screen. This means that you won’t be able to see whom your opponent selects. There won’t be counter picking. Frankly, I’m expecting to fight a lot of Kens out there. I’m just hoping my Blanka can keep up.

So if you’re a big Street Fighter IV fan and you’re not doing anything on Saturday night, you may want to go over and check out the Street Fighter IV National Tournament Finals.

The details are above, but if you can’t read it here’s the info:WHERE: Fort Mason in San Francisco. It’s at the Festival Pavilion at 99 Marina Blvd.WHEN: Saturday, April 18 (That’s tomorrow) It starts at 7 p.m.

Also at the event will be:

· SFIV game play kiosks

· Autograph signing with YOSHINORI ONO, Producer for SFIV, and SETH KILLIAN, EVO founder and Special Advisor to the game

· Performances by freestyle dance crew and America’s Best Dance Crew finalists, SUPREME SOUL, live on-stage throughout the night